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Soapbox Philosophy: Remember to keep much outdoors
by Gregory R. Norfleet · Op-Ed · July 24, 2014
Here is a phrase I would like to see event organizers use with continued or even greater frequency: “In case of rain … this event will move indoors.”
The prospect of a new recreation center interests me greatly, especially coupled with the plan to build more ball fields and trails and playground equipment in parks across the community. I want to get healthier, and I want to make regular exercise part of that plan. Many people in this city seem to want the same.
Yet I wonder how this city can maintain the spirit of today in the culture of tomorrow when it comes to choosing, as often as possible, to do things outdoors.
It’s easy to say baseball and soccer and football will continue to stay outdoors. But will it always be true for, say, musical performances? Or vendors at Hoover’s Hometown Days? Or craft shows? Or new events that may come along as the city continues to grow?
I don’t know anyone right now talking about moving current outdoor events inside. But will the younger generation want to do the same? What does human history tell us?
There’s another concern, and I’ll use Music On The Green as an example. The bands that perform — including the West Branch High School jazz band — set up their equipment in the Village Green gazebo and, because of the open-air format, play not only to the audience in the park, but the entire downtown.
It’s wonderful, and even on nights when I cannot attend, I find myself rolling down the window to listen if I pass by. What a great gift this music is to the ambiance of the city, and to the impression it leaves on visitors who might just be stopping by the Hoover National Historic Site, or Jack & Jill grocery store, or driving through just out of curiosity.
From what I understand, this event was started in part to dispel a misunderstanding that the general public was not allowed to use the Village Green, which is owned by the National Park Service. So imagine the event goes on for years, so long that it outlasts the event creators and the institutional knowledge of why it came about in the first place.
Then, one particularly rainy summer sends the event indoors a couple of times. At the end of the season, new leadership and volunteers who had to scoop up equipment in bad weather throw up their hands one day and utter the fatal words, “It would just be easier to …”
Indoor events can be great. But I can’t help but wonder: Did WBHS ever host graduation outdoors? Did school basketball games or volleyball games ever play outdoors, in warmer months? West Branch years ago used to host an annual “chautauqua” that included days of speakers and activities and often served picnic-type meals to large crowds who sat outside, even if in tents.
With no walls, fences or even ropes reaching from stake to stake, outdoor events invite everyone to join, which is one of the major things that make small towns so attractive and inviting and friendly.
This mindset of striving to do things outdoors is partly based on the fact that few places indoors can handle the crowds some of these events can draw. And building a recreation center can certainly tempt city leaders to want to use it, especially if it cost millions of dollars to build.
Yet it is important to remember that a recreation center in West Branch will need voter support and a bond referendum to get built in the first place. Let us consider that those who vote for a rec center will likely want it more for what the city does not have, and less to fill it with events and activities we have already.
We need to make an effort to remind ourselves that it is worth it to keep as many activities outside as possible, to take advantage of the resources available to us that are not under-roof, to enjoy wonderful weather, to maintain cooperation with other groups and agencies, and to preserve another reason people like small towns.
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